handley



y 31, 1956 H. E. HANDLEY 2,756,776

SAFETY SHUT-OFF cocx FOR BURNERS WITH PILOT LIGHTER Filed May 4, 1950INVENTOR HAROLD E HANDLEY ATTORNEY United States Patent SAFETY SHUT-OFFcoca Fon BUR-NERS'WITH PILOT LIGHTER Harold E. Handl'ey, Jackson,Micli., assignor to Handley Brown Heater Company, Jackson, Mictn, acorporation at Michigan Application May 4,- 1950, Serial No; 159,979 3Claims. (Cl. 137 611) This invention relates to gas burning heatingappliances, and more particularly to safety accessories which preventthe operation of valves except under the proper conditions.

The very nature of a gas burning apparatus makes it inherently dangerousunless operated accordingflto the manner in which it is designed to beoperated. For

to instructions, safety devices must be added for their own protection.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide, incombination, a fluid fuel burner and a lighter tube therefor, each beingsupplied with fuel by a separate valve, and an interlock controlling thesequence of operation of said valves.

A further object is to provide an actuator interlock, which will move incooperation with the operating handle of the main gas cock to act as asafety plate for the lighter tube supply cock, and as an actuator for amember coacting with the main access door of the apparatus.

A further object is to provide a safety accessory which will function asa shutoff plate between the main gas supply cock and the lighter tubesupply cock.

A further object is to provide an actuator plate to be used incombination with a door engaging member whereby to retain the accessdoor in its closed condition except when the main gas cock is in its offposition, and which will prevent the opening of the main gas cook whenthe access door is open.

These and further objects of my invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following specification in connection with theappended claims and accompanying drawings, in which Fig. I is a plan anddiagrammatic broken view wherein the parts are shown in full line withthe main gas cock in the on position, and in dotted line with it in theoff position,

Fig. II is a plan view of the interlock used without the door safetydevice, and

Fig. III is an elevational view of a conversion burner installed in aheating plant with certain parts omitted.

Referring to the drawings, the main gas supply pipe 10 supplies fluidfuel to a control cock 12 actuated by the lever handle 14. The controlcock 12 is fitted with an angle shutoff cock 16 which supplies fuelthrough the tube 18 to the pilot 20 of the main burner 22, mounted inthe combustion chamber 24. The pipe 26 supplies fuel to the main burner22, and the angle shutoff cock 2,756,776 Patented July 31, 1956 ice 28supplies fuel through the pipe 30 to the pilot lighter tube 32, whichmay be of any well known construction. The angle shutoff cock 28 isfitted with an operating handle 34 to which an extension 36 is added,substantially in the shape as shown, projecting in a direction away fromthe valve 12.

The shut off plate or shield 38 is attached as at 40 to the lever handle14, in any suitable manner, and projects in the direction of the angleshutofl cock 28. The edge of the plate 38 remote from the lever handle14 is shown as being formed with the flange 42 subtending therefrom, andoverlying the operating handle extension 36.

The shield 38 also carries one end of an operating cable 44-, attachedthereto by a swivel nut 46, or other similar connection. The cable 44 ispreferably sheathed in a casing 48 which is in turn held in positionadjacent the operating lever 14 by the cable clamp 50. Attached to theOthfllfelldf of the cable 44 is a plunger tip 52 encased within acylindrical guide 54 and held in position by a clamp member 56. It willbe appreciated that with the lever 1'4 in the on position, as shown infull line in Fig. I, the plunger tip 52 will be projected out from theend of the cylindrical guide 54, whereas with the operating lever 14'positioned in its off position, as shown in dotted line in Fig. I, theplunger tip 52 will be retracted, as shown there in dotted line.

The cable clamp 56 is mounted on the casing 58 of the general appliancestructure, adjacent a hinge 60 by means of which a door 62 is mounted ina suitable opening 64, which gives access to the combustion chamber 24.Mounted as shown on the hinge 60, or otherwise in juxtaposition to theclamp 56, is the angle plate 66 having its one face 68 parallel to oneface of the hinge 60, and having its second plate 70 positionedsubstantially perpendicular thereto. The angle plate 66 is mountedbarely above the extended plunger tip 52, as shown in full line, tocoact therewith.

With the parts in position as shown in full line in Fig. I, it will beappreciated that the door 62 may not be opened because of the engagementof the lower edge of the stop plate 70 with the protruding plunger tip52. In other words, with the operating lever 14 in the on position it isimpossible, by reason of the presence of the protruding plunger tip 52,to open the door 62. This will prevent the dangerous practice of openingthe access door 62 and lighting the main gas supply, resulting in anexplosion.

Likewise, with the parts in the full line position shown in Fig. I, itis impossible to supply fuel through the line 30 to the pilot lightertube 32, because it is not possible to rotate the operating handle 36past the subtended flange 42 on the plate 38. This will prevent thesupplying of fuel to the pilot lighter tube 32 with the main supplyturned on.

With the parts in the position shown in dotted line in Fig. I, and infull line in Fig. II, the handle 36 may be freely moved to open theangle shut off cock 28, thereby supplying fuel through the line 30 tothe pilot lighter tube 32. However, after this is done, it will be foundthat, if the door 62 is open, the lever handle 14 may not be turned fromthe off to the on position because of the engagement of the retractedplunger tip 52 with the stop plate 70. In other words, it is necessaryto first close the door 62 before the main fuel supply may be turned onby means of the lever handle 14.

It will also be appreciated, that with the main fuel valve in the offposition, as shown in dotted line in Fig. I, the pilot lighter fuel cockhandle 36 may be turned off manually, or will be turned to its offposition automatically by movement of the lever handle 14 3 to its onposition, by reason of the engagement of the subtended flange 42 withthe extended handle 36.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. An actuator providing an interlock in a fuel supply control having amain fuel supply valve, a control handle operatively connected with saidmain fuel supply valve, a subsidiary fuel supply valve, and a controlhandle operatively connected with said subsidiary fuel supply valve,said actuator comprising a plate mounted on said main fuel supplycontrol handle for pivotal movement therewith, and a subtending flangeformed adjacent one edge of said plate and remote from said main fuelsupply control handle, said flange being positioned in the path ofmovement of said handle of said subsidiary fuel supply valve to preventthe opening of said subsidiary fuel supply valve when said main supplyvalve is open, said flange pivoting with said first control handle outof said path to permit the opening of said subsidiary fuel supply valvewhen said main fuel supply valve is closed, said flange coacting withsaid subsidiary fuel supply control handle as an abutment.

2. A fluid fuel supply control comprising in combination, a main fuelsupply valve, a first operating handle associated with said valve, asubsidiary fuel supply valve mounted in juxtaposition to said mainvalve, a second operating handle associated with said subsidiary supplyvalve and mounted for pivotal movement, a member attached to said firstoperating handle for pivotal movement therewith, said member having anoperating abutment portion remote from said first operating handle in aposition to cooperate with said second operating handle whereby theactuation of said first operating handle in one direction will actuatesaid second operating handle, said member also having a restrictingabutment portion for preventing the actuation of said second operatinghandle with said first operating handle in one of its operatingpositions.

3. In combination, a main fuel valve exposed for independent opening andclosing actuation, a lighter tube valve mounted adjacent thereto, ashield member operatively associated with said main fuel valve andpositioned to expose said pilot lighter valve for independent actuationwhen said main fuel valve is closed, to close said pilot lighter valveupon opening said main fuel valve, and to shield said pilot lightervalve from actuation when said main fuel valve is open, said memberincluding a restricting abutment locatable in the path of movement ofsaid lighter tube valve in one position of said main fuel valve, and anactuating abutment on said member for actuating said lighter tube valvewhen said main fuel valve is moved to its open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS767,464 Wilson Aug. 16, 1904 1,309,295 Magee July 8, 1919 1,898,569Pearson Feb. 21, 1933 1,991,609 Furlong Feb. 19, 1935 2,011,824 PearsonAug. 20, 1935 2,016,577 Pearson Oct. 8, 1935 2,083,641 Crick June 15,1937 2,224,290 Corbin Dec. 10, 1940 2,295,784 Handlen Sept. 15, 1942FOREIGN PATENTS 1,810 Great Britain of 1896

